Whatcom sees 52 new COVID-19 cases, surpasses both state phase goals
Whatcom County 52 new COVID-19 cases reported Friday, May 7, on the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard. No new deaths were reported.
Overall, Whatcom County has seen 8,365 confirmed cases and 92 related deaths during the pandemic, according to state data. An additional 323 probable cases — up two from the last report — have been reported in Whatcom County during the pandemic, resulting from positive antigen tests not confirmed by a molecular test.
During the pandemic, 1.1% of Whatcom’s 8,688 total cases (confirmed and probable cases combined) have resulted in death — better than the statewide 1.3% average of total cases.
Whatcom County’s daily average of newly reported cases the past seven days is 35.7, up from an average of 33.9 one week earlier (April 23-29).
To remain in Phase 3, Whatcom must make at least one of two goals set by the state on the next data evaluation date, which was originally scheduled to occur Tuesday, May 4, but was pushed back two weeks by Gov. Jay Inslee:
▪ The first goal is for the county to have fewer than 200 new cases per 100,000 residents in a two-week period. Whatcom’s infection rate was 206.6 from April 16-29, missing the goal, according to the latest update of the state’s Risk Assessment Dashboard on Friday.
▪ The second goal is for the county to have fewer than five new COVID-related hospitalizations per 100,000 residents per seven days. Whatcom had 16 COVID-related hospitalizations (or 7.10 per 100,000 residents) from April 20-26 according to the state’s epidemiological curves. That means Whatcom is missing the goal, according to data analysis by The Bellingham Herald.
Whatcom’s 392 reported COVID-related hospitalizations increased four from Thursday, May 6, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s coronavirus dashboard. St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham reported 23 hospitalizations Friday, down one from Thursday.
Whatcom vaccination update
Friday’s vaccination report said that Whatcom County has administered 152,466 doses — up 1.02% (3,327 vaccinations) from the last report. That was slightly ahead of the state’s 1.02% increase in doses administered for the same period.
Vaccination data is updated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. Here is what data analysis of the latest numbers by The Bellingham Herald show:
▪ Whatcom County — the ninth-most populated county in Washington state with approximately 3% of the state’s total population, according to 2019 U.S. Census estimates — has administered the ninth-most doses of the 39 counties in the state.
▪ The state estimates 55.55% of eligible Whatcom County residents (those 16 and older) have initiated a COVID-19 vaccine — seventh-highest in the state. The state reports 104,743 people in Whatcom County have initiated vaccination — an increase of 1,467 from the last report.
▪ The state estimates 40.82% of eligible Whatcom County residents (those 16 and older) are fully vaccinated — eighth-highest in the state. The state reports 76,970 people in Whatcom County are fully vaccinated — an increase of 2,135 from the last report.
▪ Based on 2019 five-year population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, Whatcom County has administered 0.69 doses of vaccine per resident — behind the overall state average of 0.78 doses per person.
▪ Statewide, there have been 5,750,348 vaccine doses administered — up 108,192 from the last report. So far, 3,412,305 residents (55.54% of all eligible residents in the state) have initiated vaccination and 2,486,257 (40.46%) have completed it.
Numbers elsewhere
New coronavirus cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University Friday evening:
▪ The U.S. has more than 32.640 million reported cases, the most of any nation, and more than 580,851 deaths.
▪ Worldwide, there are more than 156.46 million reported cases and 3.26 million deaths.
Washington state reported these numbers from the Department of Health Friday evening:
▪ 381,299 confirmed cases, up 1,190 from the last report.
▪ 31,184 probable cases, up 218 from the last report.
▪ 22,699 coronavirus-related hospitalizations, up 35 from the last report.
▪ 6,662,702 total molecular tests, up 17,875 from the last report.
▪ 5,564 deaths related to COVID-19, up 11 from the last report.
This story was originally published May 8, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
